Pondicherry : Food Trail
- The Talking Bee
- May 13, 2020
- 5 min read
Updated: 1 day ago
Pondicherry is a Food Heaven and its unique mainly for all the French/ European influence on it's cuisine. #Pondicherry is home to some of the most fabulous food outlets. During our 3 days in this city we got a chance to try an array of popular restaurants. Here are the detailed reviews.
Café des Arts
Location : White town
The legendary Café of Pondicherry. The most Instagrammable Café of Pondicherry. How could we not go there. On our very first day in the city, we went there for lunch.
I ordered a mushroom crepe for myself which was served with a portion of herbed baby potatoes and a salad. My friend Aarti ordered an egg sandwich. According to her, the filling to the ratio was off. Whereas the opposite happened with Amod, who had ordered a Croque. This had more Bread for the filling. Vishnu had ordered a Tomato Tartine.
**All these were made with Sourdough Bread**
For all of the above, our bill amount was approx. 2500 Rs.
Pros – Ambiance, Food, Vibe. Its really gorgeous. Make sure you click a lot of pictures there.
Cons – Getting a place can be difficult. Service is slow. Slightly overpriced.
TTB rating – 4*
Zomato Link -https://www.zoma.to/pvezgdY
Gelateria Montecatini Terme (GMT Ice Cream)
Location: Promenade Beach
Right at the Promenade, this place is quite popular for the handcrafted Gelatos. Amod tried one of their chocolate variants. Whereas as we had Chocolate muffin.
Value for money – Yes.
Zomato Link - https://www.zoma.to/kMaBbOR
Hope Café
Location : White Town
A really vibrant café that you can not miss.
The previous day while walking back home from Café Des Arts, we stopped by to click pictures by the graffiti wall. We were curious and we ended up going there for an early breakfast next day.
Most places do not open early here so we had to wait for quite sometime but we were in no hurry! They presented us with their juice testers. Very interesting names they had given to these juices. We tried -
Hope Tea – Iced tea with rose petals and honey
Love Alchemy – Watermelon, Pomegranate, Guava, Mint, and Ginger
Joy Booster – Cant recollect what it had.
We called for a Mediterranean Grilled Vegetable Sandwich Combo. This came along with a portion of cottage cheese and olives salad, and fries.
We called for fresh Watermelon and Basil Juice and a Hope tea with the sandwich.
We paid approx. 800 Rs. for the above.
Pros – Ambiance, Food, Portion Size, Natural Sunlight in the café ( made my morning )
Cons – None.
TTB rating – 4.5*
Zomato Link - https://www.zoma.to/DDNKLLx
Tanto Pizzeria
Location : Auroville
Everyone who has visited or wishes to visit #Auroville, knows of this place. Its on the way to Auroville. We had to go there too.
Here’s what we had-
Amod had a grilled fish platter. The portion was humongous! served in a tray! This was served with a fresh citrus,tomato, basil salad and some house fries.
We shared a Romana Pizza.
We also ordered a French Onion Soup, a Minestrone Soup and a Focaccia bread and finished out meal with a Raspberry Pannacotta which according to me was flawless!
Food was outstanding! Flavours, portions, service everything was outstanding.
**Its completely operated by women employees**
We paid approx. 2000 Rs. for the above.
Pros –Food, Portion Size, Service, Variety.
Cons – None.
TTB rating – 5*
Zomato Link - https://www.zoma.to/vxYrzYk
Coromandel Café
Location : White Town
So we went there around 9PM for a dinner and they just wanted to get our dinner orders as quick as possible and get us out of there! This really pissed us off initially. As Vishnu and I went there first and our friends were supposed to join us later. They insisted we order for them right-away else they wont serve. They were pretty rigid about it and it was only making me angrier by minute.
But, when we had the first bite of food my anger faded away. This place is mind blowing when it comes food.
We had Burnt Orange and Mozzarella Salad, Red ricotta and Grilled vegetables salad.
Fettuccine Brown Butter Mushrooms and a Macaroni cheese.
For desserts we had a Mango cheese cake and a Walnut brownie.
We paid approx. 3900 Rs. for the above. ** One of our most expensive meals in Pondicherry**
Pros –Food, ambiance.
Cons – Portion size. Service, Rigid staff, Expensive.
TTB rating – 4.5*
Zomato Link - https://www.zoma.to/yXagnxg
Bakers Street Cafe
Location: MG road
The only place which is popular and which isn’t in White Town / French Town. When we stopped outside we were a little doubtful as it seemed slightly smaller from the exterior. I had seen quite a few bloggers mention about this place so I was hellbent on visiting it. I convinced all to check it out with me.
Once we entered, we were like little kids in the Candy Shop. Baker’s street has a hugeeee variety of food.
We obviously ordered a lot of things from the menu. Namely Cinnamon Roll, Croissants ( both savoury and sweet ) Éclair, Quiche, Egg Omelette with toast, Baguette, Banana Pastry, Apple Cinnamon Cake.
We paid approx. 1900 Rs. for the above.
Pros –Food, Pricing, Food Quality and Quantity
Cons – None.
TTB rating – 5*
Zomato Link - https://www.zoma.to/EzgkRzY
Villa Shanti
Location: White Town
We had passed by this place one of the days and really wanted to try it. So we went there for our last lunch in Pondicherry. Very elegant, and colonial vibe, especially the colour palette is very soothing.
We ordered a Citrus Salad, a Pudina Paratha, Roasted Fish with Ratatouille, Vegetables and noodles with Coconut, Ginger and Lemon, and my favourite Spaghetti Aglio Olio.
Everything we ordered was outstanding in its preparation, presentation and flavour. We savoured the meal over a hearty chat.
We paid approx. 2800 Rs. for the above.
Pros –Food, Ambiance
Cons – Service ( Slightly rigid and slow )
TTB rating – 4.5*
Zomato Link - https://www.zoma.to/nLvqvxm
All of the above reviews and recommendations are based purely on personal experiences. These visits were neither hosted nor sponsored by the restaurants, and no payments were made in exchange for coverage. The opinions shared are honest, independent, and intended solely to help readers make informed choices.
Please note that this review was originally written in 2020. Since travel, hospitality operations, and business statuses can change over time, I would strongly recommend checking Google or another reliable search platform to reconfirm the latest operational details, timings, or availability before planning your visit. This will help ensure you have the most accurate and up-to-date information.
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